FASHION MONEY: New York hedge fund Standard General stepped in to provide $25 million in financial support that will enable American Apparel Inc. to avoid a default. In return, Standard General will get to choose three new members of American Apparel’s board and have a say on two others. Standard General became American Apparel’s most important shareholder after the company’s mid-June attempt to fire Chief Executive Dov Charney. Charney agreed to step down as the company’s chairman and his future with the firm depends on the outcome of an investigation into misconduct allegations.

PORT PROBLEM: Three shipping terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach shut down Tuesday when longshoremen refused to cross picket lines, but an arbitrator told the dock workers to go back to their jobs. The pickets were mounted by truck drivers who are demanding to be treated as employees instead of being classified as independent contractors.

VERDICT: A jury has found the Los Angeles Dodgers partially liable for the 2011 parking lot beating of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow. The decision could result in the team paying millions to Stow’s family. The jury also found against the two assailants, Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood, who have already been sentenced to prison terms for their role in the attack that left Stow with permanent brain damage. The jury did not hold former team owner Frank McCourt personally liable.

OUTBURST: Los Angeles Clippers co-owner Donald Sterling vowed to fight to keep the team until he dies and called his estranged wife, Shelly, a “pig” inside an L.A. courtroom during the trial over whether she had the power to negotiate a $2 billion sale of the National Basketball Association team to former Microsoft leader Steve Ballmer. The forced sale of the team came amid outrage over racist comments he made in a leaked audio recording of a conversation with his mistress.

DOWNTOWN L.A.: MacFarlane Partners has completed a purchase of vacant property near the intersection of Fifth and Olive streets that it plans to develop into a new residential complex with some 600 units in addition to retail space. The San Francisco company bought the land from AFI USA, which was represented by NGKF Capital Markets.

FIRM SOLD: Venable, a law firm with offices on both coasts, now has a bigger presence in Los Angeles after its acquisition of Westwood-based Weingarten Brown. The latter firm’s managing partner, Alex Weingarten, was named a new partner for Venable at its offices in Century City. Six other Weingarten Brown attorneys joined the Venable practice as a result of the deal.

LEGAL NOTICE: Legal newspaper publisher Daily Journal Corp. is appealing its delisting from the Nasdaq after missing its deadline to publish two quarterly earning reports. Daily Journal said it fired its previous accounting firm, Ernst & Young, and hired BDO USA as its new auditor in order to comply with Nasdaq’s requirements. Daily Journal, headed by billionaire Charles Munger, said that it missed the deadlines because the skyrocketing value of its investment portfolio triggered added reporting requirements.

DISPUTE: Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer has filed a lawsuit asking a court to appoint a receiver to oversee two organizations managed by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Feuer contended the organizations, called the Joint Training Institute and Joint Safety Institute, are so poorly managed that a judge needs to put an outsider in charge of them. The union’s leadership has refused to provide detailed financial information on the organizations to city officials.

COMPANY CLOSURE: Pacific Ocean Post, a Santa Monica audio postproduction company has closed. Cathy Tische, vice president and general manager of the company, has confirmed a report in Deadline Hollywood that the company was closing immediately. The company had 15 to 20 employees, according to Deadline Hollywood.

SHOE FIGHT: Skechers USA has filed a federal lawsuit alleging Fila U.S.A. has infringed upon the patents and design of one of its products. Skechers, a Manhattan Beach footwear and apparel company, contends that Fila’s Amazen Memory Moc shoe illegally copies its GOwalk product line. A side-by-side image comparison provided by Skechers with the announcement of the suit shows both products as slip-on shoes with similar stitching and a thick white sole.

EARNINGS: AeroVironment Inc. reported fourth quarter net income of $8.1 million, compared with a $795,000 loss during the same period a year earlier. Revenue increased 36 percent to $73.5 million.